Colorado sales figures and budget predictions show that the marijuana industry's growth is finally flatlining after COVID-19's sales boost.

Unlike much of the economy, the cannabis industry largely benefited from the COVID-19 pandemic, with Colorado dispensaries breaking records on their way to nearly $2.2 billion in sales last year. Those strong sales continued into 2021, but as the weather warmed and local gathering restrictions loosened, dispensaries began seeing less action.

After six straight years of annual growth during the months of June, July and August, 2021's summer pot sales fell in comparison to last year's, according to state Marijuana Enforcement Division data, and state economists predict more shrinkage ahead. The Governor's Office of State Planning and Budgeting's most recent quarterly economic forecast has Colorado marijuana tax revenue falling nearly 6 percent in the 2021-22 fiscal year after "relatively weaker collections than expected in July and August." Revenue is projected to grow again — albeit at a slower pace — through 2024.

"There was definitely a COVID bump; I think that's quite clear," says Truman Bradley, executive director of the Marijuana Industry Group. "It makes perfect sense: All of the bars and concert venues were closed. People couldn't get together, and there just weren't a lot of things Coloradans could do." [Read more at Westword]